Free Return (Lady of Toryn trilogy) by Charity Santiago
Authors: Charity Santiago
TORYN CULTURE
by Nanka Grulich
Hmmph. Not a Toryn name. How much could one foreign chick figure out about the ancient traditions of Toryn? Probably not much. Ashlyn glanced lower on the page, studying the table of contents and looking for something that might be helpful in her quest for information.
Chapter 1: Initiation into the Tribe
Initiation? Tribe? Ashlyn snorted gracelessly. Unless this girl had somehow squirmed into the affections of a specific clan lord, initiation was pretty much impossible. This whole book was probably a total crock. She flipped to that chapter and skimmed the first page, noting words like traditional acceptance ceremony , sacred speaking words and probationary trial period .
Eh. These were all things that the Lunai and other eastern clans embraced, but not the Li bloodline. Both she and her father were of the belief that if you weren't born a Toryn, then you would never be a Toryn.
She turned back to the table of contents.
Chapter 2: Learning the Status of Tribesmen
Oh man. There was no way she was going to last through this yawner. "This one's useless," she announced, slamming the book shut with a loud thump. A cloud of dust rose unceremoniously in front of her, and Ashlyn coughed. "I'm gonna go get a drink of water," she said, hoping that Aik would be able to hear her above his muttering.
Okay, so she'd somehow been wrangled into researching moldy old books with Aik. That wouldn't have been so bad in itself, but she'd been stuck in that smelly room for what seemed like hours already, and she wasn’t going to have any time to get ready for the Landslide Festival opening ceremonies tonight. It was a three-month festival that only came around once every ten years, and this time, it was being hosted in Cosmea.
Yeah, she was gonna be the leader of Toryn, but probably only for a week or two until they found someone better. That didn't mean she had to spend all her free time poking her nose in old tribal customs and boring herself to death. And Ashlyn would rather fight off a dozen of the angry alligator-like monsters that prowled the Cosmea borders than show up bleary-eyed and unfashionable to the Festival.
A girl had her limits, after all.
And all this researching hadn't afforded Ashlyn any time to ponder over what the strange man had said to her earlier at the Inn. As much as Skye irritated her, she knew his intentions were always honorable, and she also knew that there would have to be one heck of a good reason for him to join in on a war. He hadn't even bothered to pick sides in the fight against Lord Angelo until he knew that there was no other option.
But Devlyn offering her co-Leadership of Toryn? That didn't sound like the plan of a madman bent on world domination. It sounded more like someone who was in over his head and wanted some assistance in straightening the mess out. If Ashlyn could get in as co-Leader, at least temporarily, then this war wouldn't have to take place at all. She wanted that more than anything . . . but she wasn't entirely sure about this man she'd only just met.
After edging out of the library and climbing down the ladder leading up to Aik’s old house, Ashlyn jogged easily down the stairs, glad that all her fighting and training had kept her in shape well enough to navigate the endless climbing at Cosmea. She ducked into the small rooms around the weapon shop and continued, hardly stopping to wave at the owner as she stepped outside again.
It was there that she paused, peering over at the Eternal Flame with renewed interest, wondering why the hell Drake Lockhart would be sitting in front of it, staring dully into the flames while the rest of FLD helped the natives to prepare for the Festival.
Well, the staring dully part was pretty much a given. After all, Drake was about as interesting as a pile of pony dung. But Ashlyn's curiosity won out - maybe he'd had a fight with Trace, or maybe he was
by Nanka Grulich
Hmmph. Not a Toryn name. How much could one foreign chick figure out about the ancient traditions of Toryn? Probably not much. Ashlyn glanced lower on the page, studying the table of contents and looking for something that might be helpful in her quest for information.
Chapter 1: Initiation into the Tribe
Initiation? Tribe? Ashlyn snorted gracelessly. Unless this girl had somehow squirmed into the affections of a specific clan lord, initiation was pretty much impossible. This whole book was probably a total crock. She flipped to that chapter and skimmed the first page, noting words like traditional acceptance ceremony , sacred speaking words and probationary trial period .
Eh. These were all things that the Lunai and other eastern clans embraced, but not the Li bloodline. Both she and her father were of the belief that if you weren't born a Toryn, then you would never be a Toryn.
She turned back to the table of contents.
Chapter 2: Learning the Status of Tribesmen
Oh man. There was no way she was going to last through this yawner. "This one's useless," she announced, slamming the book shut with a loud thump. A cloud of dust rose unceremoniously in front of her, and Ashlyn coughed. "I'm gonna go get a drink of water," she said, hoping that Aik would be able to hear her above his muttering.
Okay, so she'd somehow been wrangled into researching moldy old books with Aik. That wouldn't have been so bad in itself, but she'd been stuck in that smelly room for what seemed like hours already, and she wasn’t going to have any time to get ready for the Landslide Festival opening ceremonies tonight. It was a three-month festival that only came around once every ten years, and this time, it was being hosted in Cosmea.
Yeah, she was gonna be the leader of Toryn, but probably only for a week or two until they found someone better. That didn't mean she had to spend all her free time poking her nose in old tribal customs and boring herself to death. And Ashlyn would rather fight off a dozen of the angry alligator-like monsters that prowled the Cosmea borders than show up bleary-eyed and unfashionable to the Festival.
A girl had her limits, after all.
And all this researching hadn't afforded Ashlyn any time to ponder over what the strange man had said to her earlier at the Inn. As much as Skye irritated her, she knew his intentions were always honorable, and she also knew that there would have to be one heck of a good reason for him to join in on a war. He hadn't even bothered to pick sides in the fight against Lord Angelo until he knew that there was no other option.
But Devlyn offering her co-Leadership of Toryn? That didn't sound like the plan of a madman bent on world domination. It sounded more like someone who was in over his head and wanted some assistance in straightening the mess out. If Ashlyn could get in as co-Leader, at least temporarily, then this war wouldn't have to take place at all. She wanted that more than anything . . . but she wasn't entirely sure about this man she'd only just met.
After edging out of the library and climbing down the ladder leading up to Aik’s old house, Ashlyn jogged easily down the stairs, glad that all her fighting and training had kept her in shape well enough to navigate the endless climbing at Cosmea. She ducked into the small rooms around the weapon shop and continued, hardly stopping to wave at the owner as she stepped outside again.
It was there that she paused, peering over at the Eternal Flame with renewed interest, wondering why the hell Drake Lockhart would be sitting in front of it, staring dully into the flames while the rest of FLD helped the natives to prepare for the Festival.
Well, the staring dully part was pretty much a given. After all, Drake was about as interesting as a pile of pony dung. But Ashlyn's curiosity won out - maybe he'd had a fight with Trace, or maybe he was
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